Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-26
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

I thank the Deputy. I will ask the Minister to further engage with him and Deputy Ward. I know the Deputy previously raised the issues of the Gaelscoileanna and those autism classes in his community. We will try to make progress on that together.
Déanaim comhghairdeas le Lucan girl guides on their success and the pride they brought to their community. The Deputy is right to highlight the hugely positive work that is carried out in communities across Ireland, including his own constituency of Dublin Mid-West, by girl guides organisations and scouting groups. We all had an opportunity to see that in a very visible way during the St. Patrick's Day parades that took place in all of our communities. We need to support them. I am pleased to say that the community centre investment fund, which has already had a transformative impact in communities across Ireland, was opened this morning by the Minister, Deputy Calleary, for the fourth round of applications. The 2026 fund is going to focus on the refurbishment of existing facilities in communities across the country. Scouting and girl guides groups that can satisfy the conditions can, of course, apply. The conditions require that they are not-for-profit organisations, under which requirement the two organisations qualify, must be in existence for at least years, which I imagine many of them have been, and must currently manage an existing centre and be open to the wider communities. Those are the criteria, and scouting groups and girl guides can certainly apply on that basis.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-26